About 11 percent of Ventura County's Class of 2013 dropped out; decrease from previous year

Fewer Ventura County students are dropping out of high school, according to numbers for the Class of 2013 released Monday by the California Department of Education.

Locally, 10.7 percent of students who started high school in 2009-10 dropped out. That’s down from 11.7 percent for the Class of 2012.

Statewide, 11.6 percent of students dropped out, down from 13.1 percent the previous year.

That may be because educators are jumping in sooner when a student falters, said Jeff Baarstad, superintendent of the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

“If a kid is starting to get behind in credits, there’s a much quicker response, much earlier in the kid’s high school career,” Baarstad said. “I know everyone’s paying attention to it.”

At the same time, the number of local students graduating from high school in four years increased to 82.4 percent, up from 81.5 percent the previous year.

Statewide, it was 80.2 percent, up from 78.9 percent in 2012.

Overall, about 8 percent of students were neither graduates nor dropouts. They might have still been in high school, taken an equivalency exam or been in a special education program that doesn’t grant diplomas.

The numbers are used to help determine whether school districts have met federal academic standards.

Minority students continued to narrow the achievement gap, although they still had lower graduation rates overall, said Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction.

“For the first time in our state’s history, more than 80 percent of our students are graduating — a clear sign of their hard work and the support they receive from their teachers, families and communities,” Torlakson said in a news release.

Statewide, just over 75 percent of Hispanic students graduated with their class in 2013, up from 74 percent the previous year. Ventura County’s numbers were slightly lower, with 74 percent graduating, down slightly from 2012.

In Ventura County, wealthier districts tended to have higher graduation rates, while less affluent districts had lower percentages.

In Conejo Valley Unified, 96 percent of students graduated, up from 95 percent in 2012. In the Oxnard Union High School District, 78 percent graduated, down from 79 percent the previous year.

Oxnard Union is working on improving its rates, said Superintendent Gabe Soumakian. If students fail a test, they have a second chance to learn the material, Soumakian said. And if they fail an entire class, they can make up the credits online, he said. Counselors are also checking students’ grades at the end of each semester and coming up with interventions, including tutoring, he said.

“If they didn’t learn it, we give them an opportunity to learn it,” Soumakian said. “If they can demonstrate competency, that’s what matters.”